Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-07-30

He heard, nml such was the power Of her
lovo, that his, which had been put out Of
mind in tho terror Of that hour, reawoke and
took tho color of her own. He, too, forgot
the imnincnce of death in the warm presence
of his down trodlm passion. She was in his
arms as he had taken her durin. the firing,
and he lent his head to look at her. Tie
moonlight played upon her pallid, quivering
face, and showed that i'll her eyes which no
man could look upon and turn away from.
Once more-yes, even then-there came over
him that feeling OF utter surrender to the
sweet mastery Of her will that had possessed
him in the sitting room of 1.-THE Palatial." But
now, all earthly considerations having faded
away, he no longer hcsitatcd, but pressed his
lips against hers and kissed her again and
again. 1t was perhaps as wild and pathetic a
love scene as over the old moon above has
looked upon. There they We're, those two,
experiencing the fullest and acutest joy that
life has to offer in the shadow of death. Nay,
death was present with them: for there, be-
meath their feet, half hidden by tho water,
was the stiffening corpse of the Zulu.
To and fro swung the cart in tho rush of
the swollen river, up and down beside them
the carcasses of the horses rose and fell with
the swell Of the water, Oh whose surface the
broken moonbeams played and quivered.
Overhead was the blue, star sown depth
through which they were waiting presently
to pass, and to the right and left the long,
broken outlines of the banks stretched away
till at last they appeared to grow together in
the gloom.
But they needed none of these things; they
remembered nothing except that they had
found each others hearts, and were happy
with a wild JOY it is not often given US to feel.
The past was forgotten, the future was ut
hand, and between the one and the other was
spanned a bridge of passion made perfect and
sanctified by the approaching end. Bessie
was forgotten, all things were forgotten in
that consuming fire.
Let those who would blame them pause
q while. Why mott They had kept the faith.
They had denied themselves and run straightly
down the path of duty. But the compacts OF
life end with life. No man may bargain for
the beyond. Even the marriage service
shrinls from it. And now that hope had
gone Inc life was at its EXTREMIST ebb. why
should they not take their happiness before
they passed to the land where, %perchance, al
things will be forgottena So it GENE tc
them; if indeed they were any longer capable
of reason.
He looked into her eyes and she laid her
head Upon his heart in that mute abandon'
ment Of worship which is sometimes to be
met with in this world, and is redeemed from
vulgar passion by an indefinable quality Of
its own He looked into her eyes and was
glad to have lived, ay, even to have reached
this hour Of death. And she, lost i'll the
depths of her WI nature, sobbed out bel
passion laden heart upon his breast, anc
called him her own. her own, her very own!
And so the long hours passed, till at last 6
new born freshness in the air told them that
they were not far from dawn. The deatt
they were waiting for had not yet come. I,
must now be very near at hand.
"John," she whispered in his ear, "do yor
think that they will shoot us!"
"Yes," he said, hoarsely; they must FOL
their own safety"
Il wish it were over" she said.
Suddenly she started back from his arm!
with q little cry, causing the cart to rock vic
lentiy.
II forgot" she said-'you can swim, though
l cannot. Why cannot you swim to thu
bank and get off under cover of the darkness
1t is not more than fifty yards, and the cur
rent is not SO very swiftY'
The idea Of escaping without jess had nevel
occurred to him, and now that she suggested
it, it struck him as so absurd that he actually
broke into a ghost of q laugh.
Don't talk nonsense, JESS" he said.
"Yes. yes, l will. Go! You must go! l
does not matter about me now. I know 20,
love ME and l eau die happy. I will wait TO